Angola 3 Newsletter: DECARCERATE!!!!
ICFA | indybay.org | 2020-04-06
We dedicate this newsletter to the men, women and children in detention centers, jails and prisons, where they are unable to social distance or sanitize–leaving them to anxiously wait for the virus to take hold in their facilities. Please encourage your local governments to take action before the virus hits.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/02/18832077.php

African continent in social and economic chaos as official COVID-19 cases hit 10,000
wsws.org | 2020-04-06
The coronavirus crisis has exposed African governments' lack of preparation for the pandemic, which was both foreseeable and foreseen.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/06/afri-a06.html

Wisconsin's In-Person Voting Threatens Health and Democracy
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-06
Wisconsin's In-Person Voting Threatens Health and Democracy…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-covid-primary-election/

Africa: COVID-19 cases reach 9,198, deaths surpass 400
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-06
This came in a coronavirus surveillance update issued by the Africa Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.COVID-19, according to the update, has spread to 51 of the 54 countries in Africa, the latest being South Sudan that confirmed its first case on Sunday.The number of deaths has also gone up to 414 on Monday, up from 399 the previous day.A total of 747 coronavirus patients have been recovered so far, according to the update.The African Union Bureau of Heads of State and Government on COVID-19 prevention and resource, led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, last Friday reiterated the need for rapid…
yenisafak.com/en/world/africa-covid-19-cases-reach-9198-deaths-surpass-400-3516112

Ex-Special Branch Officer Becomes Oldest Briton to Recover From Coronavirus at 99
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-06
Pollock, who turns 100 in November, served for the UK's national security police force in Kenya – while there, she suffered from Malaria twice, which she says was "probably a little worse than coronavirus".
sputniknews.com/uk/202004061078854126-coronavirus-99-old-special-branch/

Human Development: Will It End Soon?
Alton C. Thompson | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-04
Our species–Homo sapiens sapiens–originated in Africa about 40,000 to 130,000 years ago. Even before 130,000 years ago our ancestors were exposed to certain stimuli–from other members of our species, and from the physical surround–and engaged in certain behaviors–especially behaviors related to the acquisition of sustenance, such as gathering, hunting, and even scavenging. Because both occurred …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/human-development-will-it-end-soon/

'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-04
'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'…
thenation.com/article/activism/public-transportation-worker-covid/

Early data shows African Americans have contracted and died of coronavirus at an alarming rate
Akilah Johnson and Talia Buford | nationofchange.org | 2020-04-04
"When COVID-19 passes and we see the losses … it will be deeply tied to the story of post-World War II policies that left communities marginalized."
nationofchange.org/2020/04/04/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate/

Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-03
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/3/covid_us_mexico_border_immigration_jails

Amazon executives conspired to smear fired worker who led protest over Covid-19 safety conditions
rt.com | 2020-04-03
Amazon's top lawyer crafted a strategy to scapegoat the man who organized a protest at a New York warehouse, calling the African-American ex-employee 'not smart, or articulate.' President Obama's ex-spokesman helped carry it out. | Chris Smalls was fired on Monday, after he led up to 50 of his colleagues at a Staten Island warehouse to walk out in protest over what they described as unsafe working conditions at the mammoth facility, including the lack of protective gear for the workers. A number of political and media figures, including Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), condemned…
rt.com/usa/484843-amazon-smears-protest-leader/

Coronavirus restrictions hamper aid access for Sudanese in need
news.un.org | 2020-04-03
The United Nations and its partners are putting in place alternative plans to ensure the continuity of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, as measures taken by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are having an impact on aid access, deliveries and services.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061072

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

FROM THE FIELD: Sunny days power a better life for displaced Nigerians
news.un.org | 2020-04-02
Water boreholes powered by solar energy are helping to improve life for Nigerians displaced by conflict, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1060892

Burkina Faso crisis and COVID-19 concerns highlight pressure on Sahel food security
news.un.org | 2020-04-02
Food insecurity levels in the Sahel region are "spiralling out of control", the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday, as it expressed concerns about the potential impact on humanitarian supply chains because of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1060942

'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-02
'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-democratic-primary/

Nigeria: UN and partners acting to avert coronavirus spread in displacement camps
news.un.org | 2020-04-01
The UN system in Nigeria and its partners are working to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus disease in some of the most vulnerable areas in the country: communities and camps housing millions of internally displaced people (IDPs) uprooted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1060812

U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill

[Research Paper] A phase 1b randomized study of the safety and immunological responses to vaccination with H4:IC31, H56:IC31, and BCG revaccination in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-uninfected adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa
Linda-Gail Bekker, One Dintwe, Andrew Fiore-Gartland, Keren Middelkoop, Julia Hutter, Anthony Williams, April K. Randhawa, Morten Ruhwald, Ingrid Kromann, Peter L. Andersen, Carlos A. DiazGranados, Kathryn T. Rutkowski, Dereck Tait, Maurine D. Miner, Erica Andersen-Nissen, Stephen C. De Rosa, Kelly E. Seaton, Georgia D. Tomaras, M. Juliana McElrath, Ann Ginsberg, James G. Kublin, HVTN 602 | thelancet.com | 2020-03-18
BCG revaccination administered as a single dose ID and both H4: IC31 and H56: IC31 administered as 2 doses IM had acceptable safety profiles in healthy, QFT-negative, previously BCG-vaccinated adolescents. Characterization of the assays and the immunogenicity of these vaccines may help to identify valuable markers of protection for upcoming immune correlates analyses of C-040-404 and future TB vaccine efficacy trials.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30057-2/fulltext?rss=yes

[Comment] Preparedness is essential for malaria-endemic regions during the COVID-19 pandemic
Jigang Wang, Chengchao Xu, Yin Kwan Wong, Yingke He, Ayà¥la A Adegnika, Peter G Kremsner, Selidji T Agnandji, Amadou A Sall, Zhen Liang, Chen Qiu, Fu Long Liao, Tingliang Jiang, Sanjeev Krishna, Youyou Tu | thelancet.com | 2020-03-16
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that first emerged in Wuhan in China's Hubei province1 has quickly spread to the rest of China and many other countries. Within 3 months, more than 125‚Äà000 people have been infected and the death toll had reached over 4600 worldwide on March 12, 2020.2 In an attempt to contain the virus, the Chinese Government has made unprecedented efforts and invested enormous resources and these containment efforts have stemmed the spread of the disease.3 As of March 12, 2020, malaria-endemic regions in Africa have reported a few imported COVID-19 cases inclu…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30561-4/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Adoption of COVID-19 triage strategies for low-income settings
Rodgers R Ayebare, Robert Flick, Solome Okware, Bongomin Bodo, Mohammed Lamorde | thelancet.com | 2020-03-11
Despite major advances in epidemic preparedness, Africa remains uniquely susceptible to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index,1 22 of the 25 countries most susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak are in Africa. The high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, and other pathogens might potentiate the severity of COVID-19 and contribute to diagnostic uncertainty. Health-care systems and human resources are already spread thin. And although the young age of the population (with more than half aged younger than 20 years) might prove protective, it also means…
thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30114-4/fulltext?rss=yes